Stories

Story·Arielle Gorin, age 12 — A young artist who draws the sunrise every morning struggles with her mother's acting ambitions for her, then finds hope after losing an art contest when her grandmother offers to...

Story·Sarah Heng Blackburn, age 11 — Eight-year-old Soon-Soon Wang flees Cultural Revolution China for America after her parents are taken by the government, leaving behind her best friend Xiao-Long.

Story·Jane Westrick, age 12 — A young climber encounters a cougar on a mountain ledge and saves herself by singing the same lullaby she once used to tame her childhood cat.

Story·Ryan G. Braun, age 10 — A 10-year-old recounts Hannibal's ambush of Roman forces at Lake Trasimene in 217 BC, detailing military preparations, strategy, and the devastating Carthaginian victory.

Story·Lisa R. Neher, age 13 — A nervous girl drives to her school play audition, battles stage fright, performs her monologue, and finds relief in having tried her best.

Story·Rosalie Schulick, age 13 — A six-year-old girl hatches a duckling from an abandoned egg, raises it as her best friend, then learns to let it return to its wild family at the pond.

Story·Christina Kells, age 12 — A twelve-year-old enslaved girl learns to read in secret, escapes to Massachusetts via the Underground Railroad, and becomes a teacher, reuniting with her childhood friend years later.

Story·Becky Shafer, age 13 — After surviving a plane crash, a boy struggles with trauma while his friend's family hobby store faces closure, both learning to face uncertain futures.

Story·Rachel Schneck, age 10 — A wild African horse is captured, shipped to America, and passed between owners until she escapes during a film shoot and returns to freedom on the African plains.

Story·Erin Brock, age 13 — A puzzle-loving girl falls asleep on an unfinished jigsaw and wakes up inside it as a colonial farm girl, discovering she must complete the puzzle from within to escape.